Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Franco Battiato was very much considered as a Sicilian artist besides Italian and after his professional adventures up north in Milano he returned to his beloved Sicily under the shadow of Mount Etna where he was born. Now Riposto (ex-Ionia) where he was born, Milo up the Etna hill where he had his house for decades and where he died plus the capital of region Catania all have plans to commemorate the music legend. "The spectacular nature of our lungomare (waterfront) that visually unites Etna with the Ionian sea, in the context of the lava rock of the ancient eruptions of our volcano - explained Mayor of Catania Pogliese - will become a symbol of a man, an artist who has magnificently interpreted the values ​​of nature, transcending the borders of Sicily and Italy for its innate ability to grasp the deepest feelings of humanity. The great emotion that the death of Franco Battiato aroused throughout Italy convinced us that to remember a personality who has marked the feelings of g...

  Sicilian Giovanni Montalbano has won the second wildcard for the Sammarinese 1in360 selection, the internet card that is, and even before his announcement fans reacted to his (and others) suspicious votes. Apparently Montalbano got 170.000 votes within 24 hrs, judging by the comments. This blogger can't say a thing as I wasn't following the process. In fact the organizers themselves gave a statement in Facebook about all that fuss last night: We've received emails from several 1 in 360 fans alleging fraud in connection with the open process for the selection of wild card no. 2. Specifically, they pointed out that certain candidates gained tens of thousands of votes in a short period of time. We appreciate this may look suspicious. Going into this, we considered requiring fans to pay a small amount of money in order to cast a vote. While this wouldn't have prevented fraud, it would at least have made it more expensive. In the end, however, we decided to be...

Emis Killa is an award winning Sicilian rapper who has released three albums so far. He was also a coach in the latest edition of The Voice of Italy that finished recently. That may have been the way to make him a household name an show his very likable personality and who knows, maybe he will break it real big now. His video is full of references from television and has a lovely a little melancholy atmosphere.... 

One of the most incredible voices Sicily has given us, Giuni Russo lives on thanks to her life partner Maria Antonietta Sisini. Giuni, who sadly passed away in 2004 when she was only 54, was devoted to Saint Teresa of Avila, who is celebrated for her 500th anniversary this year and this album Las Morada s is a part of that. Also, it is dedicated to Pope Francis, who was so touched by the words expressed in Giuni's biography that he sat down and sent a handwritten thank you letter to Sisini.  The album is a remastered and integral concert Giuni had in Milan's Basilica San Lorenzo Maggiore on December 29, 1999. Grazie Marie Antonietta for keeping Giuni's legacy alive! "It is love alone that gives worth to all things."  - St. Teresa of Avila

After Albanian Elhaida Dani - who represent her country in the Eurovision song contest this year -and Sicilian nun Sister Cristina we have a 27-year-old street musicians claiming the price: Fabio Curto. Born in deep south, Calabria, he now lives in Bologna. He's an all around musicians playing several instruments but he has also graduated in Political sciences, in crimionology. But music is his life and he's also involved as violin player in a Balcan music band. Here is his blind audition . 

Namely in Sicily, Monsignor Staglianò, Bishop of Noto has become a Youtube sensation after using Marco Mengoni's latest single Essere umani (Being human) and his Eurovision entry L'Essenziale (Essential) as well as Noemi's Vuoto a perdere (Emptiness to lose) and Mengoni's Guerriero (Warrior) to reach the young people and explain them facts of life. Or the emptiness of it today. And indeed the lyrics are very fitting when taking out of the song context. Noemi's song goes:  "Sono un'altra da me stessa, sono un vuoto a perdere.  Sono diventata grande senza neanche accorgermene" "I am different from myself, I'm emptiness to lose.  I have become grown up without even realizing it." The bishop insisted on emptiness of life and warned young people to find themselves bypassing the fashions of the hypermarket, where people only look at you if you have the money and not the heart. and Mengoni's L'Essenziale : "Mentre...

Sicily has produced a lot of famous and succesful artists from Franco Battiato to Giuni Russo , Marcella Bella and Gianni Bella , Carmen Consoli , Gerardina Trovato , Rosario Di Bella , Luca Madonia and Silvia Salemi come to mind from the past decennies. But the season of various talent shows and competitions 2014-2015 is all Sicilian! In 2014 Suor Cristina from Comiso wins The Voice Italia, Deborah Uirato from Ragusa Amici and Lorenzo Fragola from Catania X Factor, now Giovanni Caccamo from Modica wins Sanremo nuove proposte and Il Volo the festival itself. Two of the guys are Sicilian (Piero from Naro and Ignazio from Marsala), only Gianluca comes from Abruzzo region. 6-1 for Sicily vs. rest of Italy, not bad? Now all we need to add to the list is an Eurovision victory :-)

Franco Battiato takes on a new adventure, becoming the Councillor for culture in his home region Sicily in the new elected government.  "I renounce the compensation and I will try to organize events that expose the island Sicily with the rest of the world " he declares and underlines he's not there to make politics and politics he can do without. He  does not want to be called councillor, he prefers to be called Franco only and feel free to work for free as one of the conditions to  accept the position of Councillor for Culture of the board of the newly elected governor of Sicily, Crocetta, a former mayor of troubled southern Sicilian town of Gela (where this blogger has spent some fun times many, many moons ago!). Another condition for accepting the job was that he could quit at any time as he "can't and won't change jobs" .  He is ready to work for Sicily, although " it is still early to talk about programs and initiatives. The only wort...